coachmen freedom express 192rbs

babock wrote:
Out of curiosity, what do you plan on towing it with?

For local and weekend stuff I will use my Ranger. When we go on long trips it will be behind an F250 with a Harley in the bed.

mountainkowboy wrote:
The 192 was designed to be towed by SUV's and mid-size trucks. People that own them report camping weights around 4,600lbs or so, which is well within the abilities for these class vehicles. They do not require a 1/2 ton truck that's rated to tow twice that weight. It's no different than an F350 towing a 38' 16K trailer behind it. If your not comfortable towing close to your vehicles ratings that's fine...but quite making it sound like it isn't safe to use the trailer as it is designed.

babock wrote:
Out of curiosity, what do you plan on towing it with?

In an earlier post back on Page 2 mountainkowboy confidently indicated his 2011 Ford Ranger would easily tow a 192RBS. It appears to have the same basic engine / transmission / axle configuration as my 1998 4.0L V6 SOHC Ford Explorer with which I tried to tow an RVision TrailCruiser hybrid that averaged ~ 4000 lbs loaded & ready to camp. After 2 weekend trips I wasn't comfortable at all with this truck towing the trailer while also transporting my family so I upgraded to a 1/2 ton Silverado - problem solved. To each his / her own but having gone through this myself I'm now firmly entrenched with the 1/2 ton crowd. :)

mountainkowboy wrote:

The 192 was designed to be towed by SUV's and mid-size trucks. People that own them report camping weights around 4,600lbs or so, which is well within the abilities for these class vehicles. They do not require a 1/2 ton truck that's rated to tow twice that weight. It's no different than an F350 towing a 38' 16K trailer behind it. If your not comfortable towing close to your vehicles ratings that's fine...but quite making it sound like it isn't safe to use the trailer as it is designed.

Out of curiosity, what do you plan on towing it with?

Last Train wrote:
I’ll generally support what SoundGuy has said with one major exception. Our tow vehicle is a 2011 Honda Ridgeline - not a Pilot.

SoundGuy wrote:
Memory lapse - Ridgeline, not Pilot. ;) My point though was I personally wouldn't feel comfortable towing this size of trailer with anything less than a V8 1/2 ton, which the Ridgeline isn't ... I'll correct my post though so as to not be imprecise. :R

babock wrote:
I agree...wheel base is WAY to short. I have towed with short wheel base vehicles like that in the past and it was not fun going down mountains in California.

The wheelbase of the ridgeline is 125". Wheel base of my Silverado is 143".

mountainkowboy wrote:
The 192 was designed to be towed by SUV's and mid-size trucks. People that own them report camping weights around 4,600lbs or so, which is well within the abilities for these class vehicles. They do not require a 1/2 ton truck that's rated to tow twice that weight. It's no different than an F350 towing a 38' 16K trailer behind it. If your not comfortable towing close to your vehicles ratings that's fine...but quite making it sound like it isn't safe to use the trailer as it is designed.

You might want to make it clear as to exactly whom you're addressing your comments as I've never claimed that towing a 192RBS with anything less than a 1/2 was "unsafe", just that I personally would be uncomfortable with it. In fact, even babock never said it wasn't "safe", just that he found towing a trailer of this size down a mountainside with a relatively short wheelbase vehicle "was not fun". Everyone is entitled to their opinion, some just happen to disagree with yours. That should be "fine" too. :R

babock wrote:

SoundGuy wrote:

Last Train wrote:
I’ll generally support what SoundGuy has said with one major exception. Our tow vehicle is a 2011 Honda Ridgeline - not a Pilot.

Memory lapse - Ridgeline, not Pilot. ;) My point though was I personally wouldn't feel comfortable towing this size of trailer with anything less than a V8 1/2 ton, which the Ridgeline isn't ... I'll correct my post though so as to not be imprecise. :R

I agree...wheel base is WAY to short. I have towed with short wheel base vehicles like that in the past and it was not fun going down mountains in California.

The wheelbase of the ridgeline is 125". Wheel base of my Silverado is 143".

The 192 was designed to be towed by SUV's and mid-size trucks. People that own them report camping weights around 4,600lbs or so, which is well within the abilities for these class vehicles. They do not require a 1/2 ton truck that's rated to tow twice that weight. It's no different than an F350 towing a 38' 16K trailer behind it. If your not comfortable towing close to your vehicles ratings that's fine...but quite making it sound like it isn't safe to use the trailer as it is designed.

SoundGuy wrote:

Last Train wrote:
I’ll generally support what SoundGuy has said with one major exception. Our tow vehicle is a 2011 Honda Ridgeline - not a Pilot.

Memory lapse - Ridgeline, not Pilot. ;) My point though was I personally wouldn't feel comfortable towing this size of trailer with anything less than a V8 1/2 ton, which the Ridgeline isn't ... I'll correct my post though so as to not be imprecise. :R

I agree...wheel base is WAY to short. I have towed with short wheel base vehicles like that in the past and it was not fun going down mountains in California.

The wheelbase of the ridgeline is 125". Wheel base of my Silverado is 143".

Last Train wrote:
I’ll generally support what SoundGuy has said with one major exception. Our tow vehicle is a 2011 Honda Ridgeline - not a Pilot.

Memory lapse - Ridgeline, not Pilot. ;) My point though was I personally wouldn't feel comfortable towing this size of trailer with anything less than a V8 1/2 ton, which the Ridgeline isn't ... I'll correct my post though so as to not be imprecise. :R

SoundGuy wrote:
We purchased a new 2014 Coachmen Freedom Express 192RBS in July 2013 and have used it extensively since then. This generation had a short queen bed but I improved that significantly by extending the bed platform. The inexpensive stock mattress was rock hard but adding a 3" gel memory foam topper turned it into a soft pillow top. Mine doesn't have a vent over the main cabin so I instead use a window mounted fan, current models do have a vent in which you could mount a powered vent fan. In later model years (2016 ?) Coachmen changed the profile of the front wall so although the trailer is still 22' 6" coupler to bumper the bed is now an 80" full length queen bed. :B

The bathroom is about as small as it could be and although I'd prefer a bit more space it serves the purpose just fine. I did invent a shower curtain shaper so the shower curtain won't stick to us when showering. The toilet is angled so there's plenty of clearance between it and the bathroom door when sitting on the throne.

I love the massive front pass through storage compartment where I have plenty of space for our needs - even carry my spare tire in there rather than under the A frame.

Current models have a useless ommi directional OTA antenna, mine came with a Winegard Sensar III which I upgraded to a Sensar IV, adding a Winegard SignalPro as well so performance is about as good as it gets in an RV antenna. The current antenna I'd probably replace, but with what I'm not sure.

A trailer this size isn't going to have both a dinette and sofa but our reasoning is we'd be better served with a sofa as we often eat outdoors anyway. The trailer does come with a stand alone table but it's awfully big so we instead use a couple of lightweight TV tables anytime we may want to eat inside. Unlike many trailers this one offers a reasonable amount of kitchen counter work space which can be further improved by placing a cutting board atop the stove. Interior cabinet space is generous and we've never been able to use it all, though I did add a third door to the cabinet next to the entry door.

At 22' 6" this trailer is not only easy to tow but can be parked on pretty well any campsite, an important factor for us as we often go camping last minute, without a reservation, which during the busy summer months means we often don't have much choice in which site we get. With a trailer this size I know we'll always fit and I must admit I do enjoy watching those with 30 footers trying to squeeze on to their campsite. :W

CCC is far more generous than with many similar models from other manufacturers, in excess of 2000 lbs. I typically run ~ 4800 lbs loaded & ready to camp with an average gross tongue weight of ~ 625 lbs. I do use a trunnion bar Reese WD system but no sway control.

This trailer comes stock with off shore Chinese tires (Trail Express in my case) and not surprisingly one them failed earlier this summer - simply split, exposing the steel belt inside. Further inspection showed a large, oval shaped bubble where the interior ply had separated from the rest. I replaced all four with the new US made Goodyear Endurance and expect I won't have any further tire issues. I understand Jayco is now fitting Endurance tires to many of it's new models so if I were buying another Freedom Express I'd want to consider this as well.

Mine has an open underbelly, which I prefer, but I believe current models have an enclosed underbelly. That may be a drawback as it would be difficult to ascertain whether new models suffer the same issue as mine did - a sagging fresh water tank. I solved that on my own trailer but I'd bet there are plenty of these trailers running around with the owner not realizing just how poorly these tanks are installed. As far as I know Coachmen has done little to improve this situation so it's one I'd look at carefully myself should I ever want to buy another Freedom Express.

The only major failure I've had is the frame cracking on both sides, just aft of the rear tires. Turns out this is a pressed together Lippert frame and although Coachmen was forced to issue a recall for some models to install missing frame stiffeners my particular unit isn't on the list and therefore isn't covered for repair. My dealer is nonetheless going to repair this damage anyway but I'd caution anyone buying a used model to be aware of this issue. Newer models have a different frame and shouldn't have this issue.

Coachmen has really stepped up the game by improving the look of the Freedom Express series with a profiled front wall. Personally I don't care for some of the current interior colours and the exterior white trim but others of course may disagree.

Overall this trailer serves our needs really well, tows well behind our Silverado, and I have no plans to replace it. Forum member Last Train tows his own 192RBS with a Honda Pilot but I personally wouldn't want to tow any trailer this size with anything less than a 1/2 ton truck. JMO.

Anytime we camp with others they have their own camper so accommodating other couples isn't an issue for us. For those for whom this is an issue I'd instead suggest the somewhat larger Coachmen Freedom Express 231RBDS which has an especially large dinette that can be converted to a full size queen bed for night time use by a visiting couple.

Further details are illustrated in my gallery. :)

Our 2016 192 RBS has been one of the best “investments” we’ve ever made in our lifestyle. I’ll generally support what SoundGuy has said with one major exception. Our tow vehicle is a 2011 Honda Ridgeline - not a Pilot. I mention that partly because the Ridgeline, though a midsize pickup, it actually behaves more similarly to a 1/2 ton. The Ridgeline was built to be a very flexible and capable sport utility truck. It only shares about 30% of its parts with the Pilot. The Ridgeline has a much stiffer ladder frame and suspension components more robust than the Pilot. Lots of other differences, but the key point is that we feel very satisfied with the matchup of our trailer and the Ridgeline. It is very stable and solid as can be when towing this rig. No offense to any Pilot owners, but I don’t think I would be as comfortable towing this size rig with a Pilot, since its DNA is SUV - not truck.

SoundGuy wrote:

The same lesson we learned years ago when long distance traveling with our boys in a 10' popup. :B To each his / her own but I'm still amazed by those who just can't "camp" without a 30'+ TT or 5th with multiple slides, then struggle to park it on a campsite :@ ... makes no sense to me but I guess that's the difference between "camping" and "glamping".

We enjoyed our Moho and put 33,000 miles on it in the 3 years we owned it. We noticed that it was mostly empty and the 7mpg sucked, maybe if we were full-timing it would have had more stuff in it. It was nice in bad weather and wasn't a problem at any campground and was pretty easy to drive.

mountainkowboy wrote:
...learned that we don't need a big RV since most of the time we're outdoors...camping.

My last camper was a 13 footer. I had it for 5 years and really enjoyed it. It was about as cramped and tiny as you can get without going to a tear drop. Now, with the 192RBS, I am sometimes overwhelmed by how spacious it is. I honestly don't think I will ever upgrade for the sole purpose of going bigger. That being said, I know two couples who do. One couple is on their third trailer in 5 years. The other is on their second. All to be bigger. They started with 25 footers. It is all a matter of personal preference.